I am a recent tea convert, glad I found this forum. Only been experimenting for about 2 months now, and limited by what I can find locally, but happy with what I have found around Boston so far.

A friend just returned from Guangzhou,and brought me back 3 cakes and a tin of what I believe are all Pu-Erh tea. I am hoping you folks can help me identify them, teach me how I should be brewing them, and what pot/cup I should buy to brew at home.

As of now I buy a cup at the local spot who offer loose leaf teas, in other words I am a virgin tea drinker! Any hidden shops in Boston or Chinatown?

I'd brew the dianhong in a gaiwan, about half full of leaf. 30s first infusion and adjust from there. Black Chinese tea (red tea), I'd only expect to get a few brews out of it.You said you already tried and you like it. Maybe just keep brewing it that way.Not sure what kind of puerh you have there. Cooked or green? Break off a chunk, throw it in your pot. Pour boiling water over it and pour it off quickly. Throw this brew out. This is "the wash".You have plenty of tea there to experiment. Find out how YOU like it.If you don't like the cakes, put them in a box and forget about them for a decade or two. Lol.

You sound confused because tea nomenclature is confusing. There isn't really a standard on how to name teas, and every vendor uses whatever labeling they want. Dian Hong literally means "Yunnan red", and I don't think you will get much more specific than that.

Are you hoping that this tea is something specific, or are you just trying to learn? You can post pictures of the tea, but I don't think I or anyone else will be able to help you (prove me wrong, TC!), since all these names don't really mean much. I don't even know what the difference is between golden tips, yellow gold, and black gold. These all just sound like generic names for Yunnan black tea to me.

I am inclined To think much like other crops there are subtle (sometimes not so subtle) nuances within a certain sub genre of said crop. Case in point, stone fruits. We all agree that peaches are a sub genre of stone fruit, yes? How about nectarines? Stone fruit as well? Within those 2 types of stone fruit, there are many varieties, each with their own flavors, colors, shapes, and sizes that lend themselves to a specific mouth feel and flavor profile. Not to mention cost.

I am inclined To think much like other crops there are subtle (sometimes not so subtle) nuances within a certain sub genre of said crop. Case in point, stone fruits. We all agree that peaches are a sub genre of stone fruit, yes? How about nectarines? Stone fruit as well? Within those 2 types of stone fruit, there are many varieties, each with their own flavors, colors, shapes, and sizes that lend themselves to a specific mouth feel and flavor profile. Not to mention cost.

Your quest for tea knowledge is not wasted though! This is definitely a good place to ask questions. You seem to be starting in a strange subset of teas though; in my opinion Yunnan blacks are too fine a set to begin with. I would suggest first learning about the more popular tea names in the larger subsets of teas: greens, oolongs, blacks, and puerhs.

If you still want to get to the bottom of the Dian Hong, why not order another "Dian Hong" from another vendor and see how your two teas differ? Forget the names and just drink.

Too in depth, just looking for the major differences not the finite meaningless differences. I get what your saying, and understand with tea, tobacco, coffee, wine, etc the marketing is skewed toward the terroir and not the product itself.

This was a gift brought back on a recent trip to that region of China, not ordered. More tea here than I know what to do with.

What scares me off, for now, of ordering tea to brew is the vast spread of suggested temps, methods, and equipment. As mentioned in another post if I could get by with hot water from the Keurig, and a Gaiwan or another simple brewing setup I could be more explorative.

I know I like green teas, oolong, black. White is OK, but doesn't blow my mind. This is based off of just loose leaf options at the local high end coffee shops as I haven't found any tea shops in or around Boston that aren't Taevana or Davids.

A gaiwan should definitely be your first teaware purchase. You can use it to brew any of the teas you mentioned, and gaiwans are usually pretty cheap. To me, this is a no-brainer. Don't worry about Yixings and all that jazz. When I first got started I used a gaiwan for brewing, and then poured into a mug. I can't comment on the Keurig because I don't know what it is. But a gaiwan and boiling water should get you pretty far.